Lying With You
by sonryz
Summary: HariGure angst, with sprinkles of AkitoShigure and chap. 98 spoilers. Rated for the lemon in chapter four. 'You know, we really suck at this. This business of falling in love with someone and taking care of them...'
1. Day and Night

**Prologue – Day and Night**

_"Wait until it is night before saying it has been a fine day." --French Proverb_

* * *

_The room was dark, and heavy with heat. Thick, stifling air encircled the confined area like an invisible fog, waiting, hungry, pacing the edges of light and shadow and unfathomable emotion with the menacing air of a dark hunter. There was substance to it, a tangible presence._

_Of irritation._

_Of annoyance._

_Of barely contained rage._

_There is, after all, a difference between heat and warmth._

_Sohma Shigure knelt dutifully before his God, and waited in the suffocating cloud of emotions crowding the dark room. The smallest smile danced around the corners of his mouth._

_His God, on the other hand, was less than amused. The voice that came from her divine lips was harsh, accusing._

_And full of a pain that only a handful of people would be able to identify._

_Unfortunately for Sohma Akito, Shigure was one of them._

_"Why didn't you come?" the God spat, venom to anyone but Shigure, who saw the sullenness in the girl's rage. "Why weren't you _here?"_  
_

_What the God was referring to, of course, was the incident at the dinner the previous night, in which Sohma Yuki had spoken to the God of faults and blame, and forgiven her for everything._

_Forgiveness! To Akito! Yuki's rebellion had rattled the God to her core, and not having the supposedly most loyal of her _jyuunishi_ with her immediately afterwards was simply salt in the wounds. Sohma Shigure, she had decided through the hurt, had far too much irreverence for the God's liking, and his decadence was causing her pain._

_Akito did not like pain._

_Thus Akito did not like Shigure._

_Thus Shigure was getting an earful as the God flung her own pain – ineffectually – at her precious, indifferent _inu_, who watched on with blank grey eyes._

_"Why didn't you _come?_" Akito repeated. "I was _waiting_ and you _didn't come!"

_The inevitable sound of breaking china muffled its way through the gloom as Akito slammed a nearby vase of flowers to the ground. Water and petals spilled over the floor but Akito didn't care; her dark eyes were wide with rage and madness and pain, and staring shakily at the unfazed man before her._

_"Why didn't you come...?"_

_The soft whisper barely made it to the Dog's keen ears, and the desperation he found in it served only to amuse him._

_Shigure closed his eyes serenely._

_"I felt sure Kureno would be here to aid you," he replied mildly, on the very edge of civility as an old bitterness fought to be heard._

_His cold grey gaze flicked up to meet Akito's, and she found it there instead._

_And it enraged her._

_Her heart overflowed with anger once again, and she raised her trembling fist high into the air, shook it as she glared madly at the ridiculously calm man before her._

_Impossibly calm._

_Mockingly calm._

_Painfully calm._

_But through her rage, the last went unnoticed._

_Her fist came down, and her eyes clenched tightly shut as she fought within herself._

_"Get out," she hissed, _"get out!_ I don't want you _here_ anymore you _sicken_ me! Get out! _GET OUT!!"

_And Shigure got out._

_And Shigure walked, hands lost in the large sleeves of his _haori_ comfortably, through the Main House, inclining his head politely to those he passed._

And Shigure passed Kureno going the opposite way down the corridor.

_And Shigure stepped through the gates out of the Main House._

_And Shigure looked up._

_And Shigure smiled at the thick glaring sea of white he found up there, smiled a wry smile that twisted his handsome face into something quite __horrible._

_And quite sad._

_"And it was going to be such a nice day, too."_

_And Shigure smiled some more._

_And Shigure went back into the Main House._

* * *

:: sonryz ::  
Here we go, my second mini series. All aboard the GureHari angst rollercoaster ride!

...Or not.

I mean, that's the idea, but...

Let's just see how this pans out.


	2. Convalescence

**Take One - Convalescence**

_"The best armour is to keep out of range." --Italian Proverb_

* * *

Sohma Hatori sighed. 

There was a Feeling in his chest, but he didn't know what it was, and it annoyed him slightly.

He knew the source of course, but that didn't mean he knew the cause, or the meaning, or indeed what the Feeling was at all.

And there was no real or scientific way of finding out, because his source was a tricky, unpredictable being, the answers of which could not, quite frankly, be trusted.

So Hatori was Feeling, and he didn't know what it meant.

Hatori did not much like not knowing things.

It irked him, rather.

Thankfully, there was only one thing that really made him Feel this way.

Out of his good eye, Hatori gave the man lounging on his couch a calculating look.

Sohma Shigure had turned up on Hatori's doorstep at exactly half past two that afternoon, and quite shamelessly admitted to having been ordered out by Akito. It would seem that the God hadn't been happy with Shigure's abandoning her after Yuki's surprise rebellion, but Hatori wasn't sure what had brought the Dog to _his_ house. No doubt he would tell him soon enough.

Shigure, however, seemed to have no intention of doing so any time soon, and was busy humming a little song to himself and doodling on some old prescriptions he'd found on the coffee table.

Another sigh issued from the weary doctor's lips. In his own time, of course.

Shigure noticed his cousin's waning patience, and shot him a mischievous grin.

"I hope I haven't kept you from anything important, Ha'ri," he smiled. "I know you're a busy man."

Thinking of the stacks of paperwork camouflaging his desk, Hatori sighed inwardly. "_Iie._"

"_Yokatta, ne?_" Shigure smiled, and leaned back into the couch again, doodles abandoned to the coffee table once more as the Dog stretched leisurely against the Western style couch.

Hatori, feeling as he did with any encounter with Shigure, decided that this required a nicotine boost, and slipped a cigarette from the packet lying on the table beside his cousin's inane drawings. Taking up a lighter, he flicked the wheel and lit the cancerous stick hanging from his lips, inhaling deeply.

Hatori sighed again.

"Really, Haa-san, all that sighing's going to make you lightheaded," Shigure smiled, helping himself to a cigarette from Hatori's packet.

"Hn. And whose fault is it that I'm hyperventilating, Shigure?" He leaned over and lit Shigure's stick before wandering over to the open doorway onto the balcony, misty cigarette smoke trailing behind him.

"_Maa_, surely you're not referring to me, dearest Haa-san?"

"Hn."

The sun wasn't yet setting, though her rays were becoming subtly weaker and more golden as they streaked across the sky, fleeing the twilight that threatened to take over the skies. The air was still warm, and sweet with the nectars of the flowers blooming in the Sohma gardens.

Hatori exhaled slowly, blowing ghostly smoke into the gently fading light.

"What are you doing here, Shigure?" And, before the other man could reply, "Seriously; I can't be bothered with your theatrics today."

Almost pouting but overruled by the smirk, Shigure shrugged shoulders Hatori couldn't see. "Escaping my fate. Temporarily, of course."

Hatori turned at that, raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Don't look so incredulous, Ha'ri," Shigure smiled. "You of all people should know how I love to sidestep responsibility."

"I'm not incredulous, I'm curious," Hatori replied, stepping away from the doorway to sit heavily in the nearest couch. "I may well regret this, but do elaborate. Exactly what are you trying to achieve here, Shigure?"

A glimmer entered the Dog's slate grey eyes, a glimmer that somehow didn't quite fit their serious shade of charcoal.

"I suppose I must be denying the inevitable, mustn't I?"

"I said _no_ theatrics, Shigure; that means no pretending I'm stupid, and no pretending _you're_ stupid."

Shigure raised his hands peaceably. "Then, to be completely honest, with no airs of sarcasm, mock incredulity or charade, I am keeping out of Akito's range of attack. As I say, for the moment, at least."

"For the moment."

"Indeed. Obviously I will have to return at some point, but in the meantime…"

"In the meantime…?" Hatori's tone is tired.

Shigure smiled, blew a shaky smoke ring into the air. "In the meantime, dearest Haa-san, I'm going to have some _fun._"

The Feeling in Hatori's gut started to churn. Surely being involved in any of Shigure's games was not going to be pleasant.

"And this brings you to my house because…?"

"Why, visiting Ha'ri's _always_ fun!" Shigure sent a smooth smile the doctor's way. "Aya's fun too, but there's something _special_ about being with Ha'ri. Ne? It's always so _enlightening_."

"_Sou desu ne_…"

Hatori did _not_ like the way this was going.

_Might as well face it head on, right?_

_Guns blazing, and all that._

_You know what he wants, you know, you know…_

_After all, it could be much worse._

_Much, much worse…_

_Oh, suck it up; don't be a Shigure. Speak!_

Shuddering slightly at the thought of being in any way like his lecherous cousin, Hatori decided, perhaps not so intelligently, to listen to the voices in his head, and asked the question.

"So," he sighed, "shall we start?"

Shigure smiled amiably.

"Why not?

"Let's talk."

* * *

:: sonryz ::  
Hm, filler chapter anyone? Setting the scene. Truth be told, I just liked the quote, so here we go and on we go. XD

-: glossary :-  
_Iie_ - no_  
Yokatta, ne?_ - thank goodness/that's good, isn't it?  
_Sou desu ne_ - that is so


	3. Elucidation

**Take Two - Elucidation**

_"The reverse side also has a reverse side." –Japanese Proverb_

* * *

Night had fallen. 

The Sohma household was fading into Dreaming, and the warm air and sultry serenity of the night stole over their dozy minds as each light went out, giving in to the darkness.

All but one.

Sohma Hatori was standing in the doorway, a spent cigarette hanging from his lips, the screens thrown back to welcome in the peaceful night. Inside, soft lights illuminated the dragon's humble living quarters; outside, the moon fought in vain to cast her light through the thick cloud cover overhead. The crickets were chirping softly.

The world was dark.

Sohma Shigure was smiling, as was his wont, and reclining easily on Hatori's sofa.

Shigure had many different smiles, each hiding a particular emotion, or memory, or secret: each was its own unique façade of affability.

_This_ particular smile was hiding a secret he'd been keeping for some time now, and an emotion that he hadn't confided in anyone, not even his beloved cousins.

No, not even Hatori knew exactly what _this_ smile meant.

Only Shigure.

He had kept the secret remarkably well.

But Shigure knew, as his smile changed, that the secret would soon be out, and then the fun would begin.

It would be a game of win all or lose all.

And Shigure was willing to bet on the latter.

But for the moment he was content to just lie back and wait. Why go looking for trouble when he can let it come to him? After all, who knows? Perhaps he won't have to play at all; perhaps the secret will remain so forever, forever his and his alone.

…Then again, what was the fun in that? Sharing is caring, after all.

So Shigure smiled, and as he smiled, he spoke:

"You know, we really _suck_ at this. This business of falling in love with someone and taking care of them."

This statement took Hatori by surprise, though he couldn't tell you why.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

Shigure raised an eyebrow at his cousin. "_You_ of all people ought to know, Ha'ri."

Hatori flinched.

Shigure was by his side in a second.

He took Hatori's hand in his own.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for," he murmured into Hatori's ear, coming as close as he dared to his distressed cousin.

And Hatori _was_ distressed, though years of practice had made him very good at hiding it.

Because what Shigure had said was true, all of it; and yes, Hatori should know. Kana, Akito, Shigure… yes, he couldn't even figure out Shigure anymore.

He really _did_ suck at taking care of those he loved…

Shigure was talking again, quietly, soothingly.

Strange.

"…not what I meant to bring up, _I_ of all people should know it's not a matter to take lightly…"

"So what did you mean to say, Shigure?" Hatori interrupted softly.

Shigure looked at him, dark slate grey eyes almost sad, almost pleading, almost angry.

"What are we, Hatori?" he whispered. "Really? Why is it… why is it that we can't do anything for the ones we love?"

Hatori sighed.

"I'm really not the one to be asking, Shigure," he said bitterly, "but for the sake of conversation, what are you talking about, specifically?"

"What do you think?" Shigure asked, just as bitter. "Our illustrious God."

Hatori nodded. "Our God."

Shigure leaned his forehead on the other man's shoulder, murmured into the soft fabric of his shirt, "I love her, Ha'ri; you know that, she knows that, even _I_ know it, and that's saying something. Why is it that I can never make her happy anymore? What is it that _Kureno_ has that I don't??"

The last sentence was said with almost as much venom as the God herself would spit at her subordinates.

"Have you asked her?" Hatori queried.

Shigure barked a laugh full of painful cynicism. "Like I'd get away with my life."

"You're one of her favourites, you know; you could probably get away with it."

"Still?"

"Still."

Shigure eyed his cousin calculatingly. At length, he asked, "When was the last time _you_ saw Akito, Ha'ri?"

The doctor thought.

"Tuesday; she had a slight cough that evening and I went to give her a check up."

"After the dinner," Shigure murmured. "How was she then?"

Hatori didn't even bother to pretend Shigure was inquiring about the God's health. "Irritable, though that's to be expected."

"More than usual?"

"No more than I'd expect," Hatori replied firmly. "She was ill, and the weather was humid."

"_Maa_, but Hatori's so forgiving," Shigure murmured, resting his forehead to his cousin's shoulder again and closing his eyes.

Hatori had nothing to say to that.

So Shigure spoke again: "…was Kureno there?"

A shrewd glance down at his cousin, then looking out at the night again: "Yes."

Shigure made a small noise of an indeterminable emotion, something between pain, anger and annoyance.

"What does she see in him, Ha'ri?" he asked. "Why does her bed always smell like _him_?"

Hatori had no answer, and this bothered him.

Even more than that was this vulnerable, almost pining Shigure, literally leaning on him to stay upright. This was most unusual, the dog having always been so sure of what he was doing in the past. And now he was relying almost entirely, it felt, on Hatori to give him strength to stand. What had brought him to this? Surely there was more to it that Akito's anger; Shigure must surely be used to that by now…

Or was he just keeping up a façade as well, one that kept even Hatori out?

The thought saddened him.

And then there was the question of why Shigure had waited so long before coming to him. Did he not trust his counsel any longer? Love had never been an awkward topic for them to discuss; did he not feel comfortable around him any longer? Why did he wait until he was nearly at breaking point before finally conceding and turning to Hatori for support this time?

Did it matter?

"Shigure," Hatori murmured, "tell me. Just tell me everything. What is it that's making you so envious all of a sudden?"

"All of a sudden?"

And it hurt even more that Hatori hadn't known.

"Just Akito?"

"What else?"

Pain.

"…She loves you, Shigure."

And pain of a different kind.

"She loves you, always. Kureno… is different. I think… she keeps him close because she is afraid of losing him, more than anyone else."

"If that's the case then what does it matter if she loves me or not?" came Shigure's embittered voice. "What does it matter if I love her back? She won't show it, won't let me show it…"

"It's not a matter of love, Shigure," Hatori said. "Her love for you is very different from her love for Kureno. He… you said so yourself, didn't you? A long time ago. That Kureno is different, that he feels… _separate_ from the rest of the _jyuunishi_. Is that not a reason to keep him close?"

"No," Shigure said sullenly.

Hatori sighed, turned to the night for counsel. It whispered back at him with a soft summer breeze and the gentle chirping of crickets, with heavy warmth and dark covered skies.

And Hatori found no answers in the darkness, no explanation in the clouded Heavens, so he said this instead:

"Perhaps, Akito is just scared. She has always been scared, Shigure, and sickly, and young at heart. She is still a little child inside, unsure of how to be. Growing up knowing that these people around you, they are your pawns, makes a child authoritative, yet Akito has also grown up with lies and shadows, making her unsure, and suspicious. So she clings to what she knows is real, holds on desperately to those she trusts, to those who swear their allegiance to her.

"And it has never really let her grow up.

"Akito loves you, Shigure, but she doesn't like the way you show it. You play with her, you give her lies and tricks, the things she hates and fears and fights to ward away by keeping her _jyuunishi_ close. You defeat that purpose, and she knows it, but not how to counter nor deal with it except with rage."

Hatori took a breath.

"And so perhaps _you_ should be more forgiving too, Shigure."

The dog looked up at his cousin, surprised at the almost-accusation in his words and voice.

Hatori looked back dispassionately, grey-green eyes giving him away.

Shigure smiled, pushed himself up to touch his nose lightly to Hatori's.

"Perhaps," he breathed. "Perhaps. Maybe… Hatori would teach me how?"

The breath caught in Hatori's throat, and he turned his head sharply by instinct.

Shigure just smiled his smile, and led Hatori into the bedroom.

* * *

:: sonryz ::  
Woo-oo-oo! Angstish? How'd I do? HariGure conversations are kinda hard to grasp sometimes, aren't they? (or am I just thick?)

In relation to the quote, the conversation was meant to go Shigure on Akito, Shigure on Akito on Kureno, Hatori on Akito on Shigure, and finally Shigure on Akito and Hatori: flip-flip-flip-flip-flip. Not so sure it came out quite like that, but it's good enough, I suppose. PLEASE, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Really, I need to figure this out; any kind of feedback is greatly appreciated.

And if it wasn't obvious enough, the lemon is coming up next chappie. Please forgive me for its patheticness---


	4. Synchronization

**Take Three – Synchronization**

_"Love me when I deserve it the least, because that's when I need it the most." –Chinese Proverb_

* * *

Never before had the sheets felt so soft; never before had the pillows seemed so much like the weightlessness of clouds as when Shigure pushed him down onto them and captured his lips in that fiery kiss. 

Hatori closed his eyes gratefully, and wrapped his arms about the other man's neck, pulled him in closer and lost his fingers in the soft hairs at the base of his neck.

He kissed him back.

Shigure was smirking madly, knowing that he had Hatori in his grasp now.

And he was damned if he was going to let go.

This moment, this night, Hatori was _his_, dammit, and he was going to damn well take advantage of that.

He broke the kiss impatiently and pushed his face into Hatori's neck, digging around into the soft skin and nipping experimentally at his flesh as deft fingers worked skillfully in unbuttoning Hatori's shirt with uncanny speed. Soon enough it was halfway across the room, followed shortly after by Hatori's pants and belt, and Shigure's own clothing.

The dog grinned down on Hatori, who averted his gaze, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Shigure…"

"Shh, shh Hatori-kun," Shigure soothed, pressing more tender kisses to his cousin's face. "Just be quiet now, just be still…"

And, not knowing what else to do, Hatori obeyed, and allowed Shigure to remove the rest of his clothing before pressing their bodies together and capturing him in another passionate kiss.

He felt the dog's tongue licking at his lips teasingly, asking out of courtesy's sake for entrance, which Hatori gave quite readily. Smooth slippery muscle flicked in and out of his mouth, massaging his tongue and exploring every cavity his mouth had to offer. Hatori groaned, his back arching slightly as his member started to awake, lifting its lazy head from his lap.

Meanwhile Shigure's hands were getting wanderlust, and started spreading out over Hatori's bare skin, gently touching and stroking and caressing the other man's arms, back, chest. He pinched Hatori's nipples sweetly, brushed his fingertips over sensitive places, allowed his hands to paint a picture of the man lying beneath him, watching his perfect face hungrily as gorgeous grey-green eyes closed and Hatori gasped at his touch.

The dragon, having never felt such intimacy, desired more with an undeniable passion, and wrapped his own arms about Shigure's waist and pulled him closer, forcing their bodies together. He felt Shigure's erect nipples brushing against the sticky skin of his bare chest, and the sensation sparked waves of pleasure to wash over him, drown him. He entangled his legs in Shigure's, tried to push himself desperately into the other man's body as he claimed his lips in a frenzied kiss. Rough thrusts of his hips told Shigure his longing, and the dog shifted his roaming hands lower, caressing Hatori's gently curving buttocks, tenderly exploring the sensitive area around his inner thigh and brushing his fingertips across Hatori's overly excited member teasingly.

Hatori arched up again, felt their pleasures make contact roughly and groaned, breaking the kiss to bury his face into the wispy ends of the other man's charcoal grey hair. He felt his hips thrusting instinctively, more earnestly, and the resulting friction was unlike anything else he had ever thought was possible. White water leaked from Hatori's member, painting a picture of pleasure on Shigure's abdomen, and Hatori cried out, a wordless cry for more, for release.

Taking this as a signal to move again, Shigure shifted one hand around to gently take Hatori's swollen member into his lithe fingers, and stroked it gently. He ran his fingertips up and down the erect length, teased the tip with his thumb lightly, and relished in the way Hatori threw himself up from the bed to get closer, closer to the pleasure, closer to the ecstasy, closer to Shigure. More pleasure spilled over the dog's fingers, smeared across their gently rocking bodies as Shigure's own erection found itself delightfully close to Hatori's inner thigh, the swollen head rubbing pleasurably against Hatori's slick skin and leaving its own trail of delight along the other man's sensitive areas. A few more skillful thrusts and suddenly Hatori found the other man had wormed his hips between his legs, and something was pressing hard against his entrance.

He took in a sharp breath, shot Shigure a questioning look. His lank black hair was covering his eyes messily, and Shigure tenderly pushed it aside and pressed his cheek to Hatori's, murmuring quietly, "It'll be okay. I'll look after you, I promise."

And Hatori sighed, and Hatori relaxed, and Hatori gave himself up to the moment.

At first he felt nothing, like in movies where everything holds still for a fraction of a second and all is calm. Then the realization settled in, along with the pain, and Shigure's agonizingly erect member, and Hatori clenched his eyes, felt his body try to curl up instinctively, and clung tightly to the man on top of him, inside of him, his nails digging into his back shallowly.

Shigure just kissed his cousin on the forehead lovingly, gently pushing his way in again and smiling almost sadly as Hatori's eyes clenched tightly shut against the pain, and he curled further into Shigure's hold.

Slowly, carefully, and ignoring Hatori's soft gasps of pain as best he could, Shigure began to thrust himself faster, his hips pressing to Hatori's again and again.

And again and again and again…

Soon Hatori felt himself sliding back into a state of rapture, a euphoria of ecstasy where the world didn't seem real and his body wasn't his anymore.

But the pleasure was.

Oh yes, the pleasure was there, taking over all his senses, his better judgment, and any form of consciousness he had left. All there was now was the moment, and the connection. The together, and the bliss they'd found and cried out with one voice, as one entity of rapture.

Sweat and pleasure clung to his bare skin, stuck between his body and Shigure's as they swayed against each other tenderly, easily, pleasurably.

Passionately.

Desperately.

Faster, harder, more urgently as the yearning took over their bodies, their minds long lost to the overwhelming lust and the need and the want and the raw, carnal desire for bodily pleasures and the bliss of mindless ecstasy. Two bodies, two pairs of hands, two sets of legs, two open mouths crying out into the darkness as they bucked and sighed and rubbed each other desperately, the release so close, so agonizingly close…

Intensity and heat and craving and longing and passion and love and lust and pain.

An explosion of emotion.

And then still.

Gratification.

And _together_, their pleasure, their pain, their desperation, spent together.

Hatori and Shigure slept.

_- - - - - ._

And when Hatori awoke he was alone, and he knew that the moment was spent. Already it was a fading memory, the feeling of the other man in his arms merely the ghost of a sensation and the taste of Shigure's lips all but gone.

And then Hatori knew what the Feeling was, and why he couldn't define it before.

Because the Feeling was not one Feeling but many, a conglomeration of emotions from a variety of causes that all came from one source.

Just one.

The one that Hatori knew he would never again have the chance to hold.

And though the moment might be lost to remain only in the mists of past and recollection, the connection remained; the understanding was there, sharper than ever.

And so Hatori knew, more than ever, that they were all lost. That he was lost, that Akito was lost, that even Shigure was lost, despite his deceptively easy demeanor, and that all they could do was keep struggling towards that distant star, the one that you could never reach because it, too, was chasing its own dreams.

Yes, they were all lost.

And it hurt, the hopelessness of knowing. For how can you continue to fight with all your heart towards a goal that you know is eternally out of your reach?

Alone in the room where he had spent his love, spent it all on a fading sense of togetherness and entirety, Hatori cried.

* * *

:: sonryz ::  
Well, there you go: my first lemon. Not my first attempt, by any means; _Beautiful, Conscience_, the intro to _Yin to Yang_... all failed attempts at the all-out lemon. And somehow... I feel I've failed here, too. T.T Such angst at the end, and far too poetic to be erotic. XD Am I right? I'm right, aren't I? Give me some hints, someone? Anyone? Please...?

((maybe I'm just not cut out for smut...))


	5. Night and Day

**Epilogue – Night and Day**

_"Like Day from Night, I'll live my life apart from you, just glimpsing you across the sky,  
Because you cannot change, my dear, and nor can I."  
__--Love Song of Night and Day_

* * *

"Akito-san? I'm back." 

The God did not answer, did not turn to look at the figure in the doorway.

Sohma Shigure just smiled, and quietly shut the screen behind him.

He moved forward into the gloom of the God's chambers, and lay down on the God's futon, wrapped his arms about the God's small waist, and pushed his face into the God's fine ebony locks.

Akito turned her head fractionally to glance back at the Dog with obsidian black eyes, then closed them tiredly. "What are you doing here, Shigure?"

Firm lips pressed to the God's bare neck, and Shigure murmured into her soft ivory skin, "To visit you of course, Akito-san."

Akito shifted and sighed lightly, allowing him to stay despite the overwhelming heat enveloping her; her benevolence was getting the better of her today.

All the better for Shigure, who, upon realizing the acceptance, nipped at her neck more suggestively.

Akito shivered at his touch, wriggling about subtly as his hands roamed to rest in less innocent places, and his mouth traveled over her prickling skin.

She could feel his heat overpowering her, the desire in his body, and unable to control herself Akito rolled over and pushed herself into Shigure's chest.

Taken aback, the only thing Shigure could do in reply was hold her carefully to him, and then, having recovered from the surprise movement, press his lips to her forehead tenderly.

"Stay with me," Akito murmured into his chest, her voice breaking like a small child's.

Like the voice of a lost little girl.

"Stay with me, Shigure; never leave me alone."

Stroking her hair softly, Shigure nodded, and murmured absently, _"Never together, never apart, the sun and moon and twilight heart; Night and Day, Day and Night, never leave me alone."_

And Akito threw her arms about his neck and pressed her lips to his, and then nothing mattered and then everything mattered, and then nothing and then nothing and…

_"Stay with me tonight, be my starlight, stardust through the broken veil of twilight. Too far to touch, but close enough to dream."_

* * *

:: sonryz ::_  
_ -sigh- Well, it's finished, and most likely not what it was going to be when I started it.

But what the hey.

On another note, that last quote thing was written by my mate Ema, not me (like I could ever come up with something like that...) Just thought I'd chuck that in there.

Anyway, if anyone could send a few messages/reviews/whatever with what you thought of this fic, things you thought worked, things that annoyed you, things you downright hated, I'd really appreciate it. Tell me what's what, guys; I'm all lost.


End file.
